Nothing characterizes small business in America quite the way a coffee shop does. The smells, the ambience, the place to sit and chat. We all have our favorite go-to, with so many shops tied to our communities. 

We need our coffee shops to keep up our energy throughout our busy days, or to catch up with our friends and family. But not everyone is aware of all the local options available. This is where coffee shop Facebook ads come in. 

Why Facebook Ads Work for Coffee Shops

Facebook ads are an ideal space to get the message across to all the local coffee (and tea!) lovers. Coffee drinkers tend to be more social, and what better way to reach them through social media?

The drawback to placing coffee shop Facebook ads is typically the budget. Small businesses don’t usually have the giant marketing funds of chain cafés. But don’t worry, Facebook allows you to set your daily marketing budget.

Before you start spending money on an ad campaign, let’s review the essential first steps to maximize your ad spend.

Related: How Much Does Facebook Advertising Cost?

Getting Started with Facebook Marketing

Whether you’re creating Facebook ads for coffee shops or another type of small business, there are a few basic steps to incorporate. Following these steps ensures you’re starting off on the right foot, which makes the most of your hard-earned marketing dollars.

Define the Goal

When you choose to run a Facebook ad campaign, you need a clearly defined goal. You may think “I want more people in my coffee shop” is specific enough, however, Facebook wants more than this. 

Before you jump into a campaign, set up clear expectations for the marketing. Is it to get more foot traffic in the store to purchase coffee and merch? Is it to promote your catering services to local businesses? Or perhaps it’s to promote your new coffee club, which charges a monthly fee in return for savings on food and drinks.

The more defined your goal, the better your ads may perform. This way, you’re not trying to be “all things to all people.” Instead, you have a clear purpose, and you can build your visual and written descriptions around this goal. Plus you will more effectively target the right audience for your specific goal.

Ad Targeting

When you run a Facebook ad campaign, you have the option to set up parameters for ad targeting. You can target almost any demographic you can think of, including people in your area with an interest in coffee shops. 

Once you’ve run one or two campaigns, you can then look at retargeting. This is where you use the data from your first campaign to drive decisions on your next one. You can re-target those who interacted with your ad and are in your local area, and your chances of converting them become even greater.

More Tips and Tricks

There are other best practices for running smart, effective campaigns. 

One area that needs particular focus is with your images and videos.

Coffee shops are largely defined by their ambience, atmosphere, and how customers feel when they purchase something. Some have a strong emotional attachment to their local shop, and choosing high-quality images, videos, even gifs, to promote this feeling and emotion is key.

Your coffee shop has a brand. Keeping your branding consistent is another tip for effective ads. If you don’t have a brand strategy quite yet, then now’s a great time to start strategizing. Use the same colors and logo you use for your website or T-shirts to get started, then you can build from there.

Don’t be afraid to use testimonials either. As a small business and coffee shop owner, chances are you have a loyal following. What better way to grab someone’s attention in an ad then highlighting a local customer who can’t say enough about your coffee shop? If you can use someone with a little name recognition in your community, then it’s icing on the cake.

You can find greater detail on setting up Facebook ads here. 

Examples of Creative Coffee Shop Facebook Ads 

#1. Using High-Quality Images

One look at this ad and your first thought is how delicious that creamy, robust drink would be right about now. If someone sees this in their newsfeed, especially around 3 p.m. in the afternoon, then it could certainly entice them to stop what they’re doing and run to the local coffee shop. 

While this specific ad may be targeting coffee drinkers who want something on-the-go, the overall appeal of the ad is the visual aspect. The product does the talking because the image is compelling, enticing, and in-your-face. 

This would stand out in any newsfeed or Instagram post. Take a cue from this ad and make sure your product looks as delicious as this one. 

#2. The Specific Offer

While this particular ad may not be a local coffee shop, you can learn a couple of things from this ad and why it works for coffee drinkers.

For starters, the offer (and copy) is highly specific. It’s promoting a special offer good for certain hours of the day. Imagine how timely this would be in someone’s newsfeed as they’re heading into the afternoon doldrums. 

The other reason why this ad works so well is, like the first example, the images are high-quality. Take notice of how bright and cheerful the colors are. More importantly, imagine how these colors stand out while someone is scrolling through, catching up on the latest cat videos. 

This is another great example of how having a clearly defined goal pays off. The goal is more obvious here – it’s to promote a special pricing on a product. It keeps the message simple and in-check.

#3. Calling all Locals

This FB ad does a great job of targeting the local audience. It literally calls the city by name. This would work well in any town, anywhere. 

The goal for this ad is also clear. This local coffee shop wants locals to download the app. Not only does this mean coupons and touch-free payments for the customers, it’s also a way to earn free coffee. It’s amazing how much information someone can gather by a few simple sentences in the ad.

If you press the play button, it gives simple instructions for downloading the app and reinforces the benefits of downloading. 

#4. The Interactive Ad

This coffee shop ad does the job by using a beautiful visual, but also by getting people to interact with an ad.

First, who could resist this beautiful cup of frothy goodness? The picture truly speaks a thousand words in this case. 

But another aspect to this ad is getting potential customers to interact. Coffee is deeply personal. You could ask 50 different people what makes a great cup of coffee, and you may get 50 different answers. This ad wants to hear what makes a cup special for you. It’s a fun way to get a conversation started and gain interaction with locals.

#5. Appealing to Emotion

This coffee ad gets to the heart of why people like to drink coffee – to recharge, refuel, and get moving. Using ads to tap into this emotional tie is a smart tactic when it comes to coffee.

The copy in this ad focuses on the emotion of using coffee as fuel. Plus it asks the audience to think about their own passions. It’s also using a non-traditional image for coffee. Instead of the usual drinks or coffee beans, it’s using the image of an athlete.

Looking for More Inspiration?

We’re not going to sugarcoat it – sometimes the world of Facebook ads can get a little overwhelming. And if you’re a coffee shop owner, you don’t have as much free time to spend on figuring out Facebook.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be! Bobby and I have spent years working with Facebook ads, and have seen quite a bit of success with them too.

We’ve put together what we’ve learned over the years and created the Facebook Side Hustle Course to walk you through everything. It’s a solution for small business owners who want to understand how to properly run ads so you can see results…fast.

If you’re ready to learn how to create effective coffee shop Facebook ads, and get more customers through your doors, check out our FBSH info for more details. 

And one last tip, don’t forget you can always check out the Facebook ads library. This free tool allows you to search current and past campaigns from other coffee shop owners. If nothing else, it gives you a little more inspiration to create your own clever coffee shop Facebook ads.